The Last Link
by HP Fiction Writer
Summary: MPREG! Someone was pregnant on that fateful night in the Department of Mysteries, now he has to hope that his last link to the man he lost can survive.
1. 1 of 2

TITLE: The Last Link  
STATUS/PART: 1/2  
RATING: PG?  
PAIRING: I'd prefer not saying at this time. You'll see when you read.  
SPOILERS: BIG TIME ORDER OF THE PHOENIX SPOILER!  
WARNINGS: None, except that whole SPOILER thing  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created  
and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited  
to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner  
Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark  
infringement is intended.  
SUMMARY: Someone was pregnant on that fateful night in the  
Department of Mysteries, now he has to hope that his last link to the  
man he lost can survive.  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is just my response to the death from OotP.  
Personally, I think it sucked and am having issues with it. This is  
my outlet, and my way of dealing with it. Hope you like.  
  
  
THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, THIS HAS SPOILERS FROM ORDER OF THE  
PHOENIX. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, THEN DON'T READ.  
  
  
Hospitals had never been a place that Remus Lupin enjoyed being. Now,  
as he sat in a cold hard hospital chair, watching his newborn  
daughter fight for her life, he hated them even more. He was still  
sore from giving birth, and the chair he was sitting in aggravated  
it, but he didn't care. All he knew is that he had to be there for  
his baby girl, and he wasn't planning on leaving her side until she  
was recovered. His tiny baby girl was the last thing he had to remind  
him of the man he had been in love with, Sirius Black.  
  
After the death of Sirius, Remus had fallen in to a deep depression,  
wanting the man back desperately. Then, only a few short weeks later,  
he had found out he was pregnant, and suddenly he had felt full of  
life again. This baby was going to be his miracle, his salvation from  
the darkness.  
  
Or, at least, that had been the plan. A few months into the  
pregnancy, complications had begun to arise. Remus' blood pressure  
was out of control, fluctuating between deathly low and dangerously  
high. Then, due to medical magic testing, they had found out that  
during his monthly transformations the baby's heartbeat was becoming  
erratic, dropping during the days before and then becoming severely  
fast during the time he was in werewolf form. Finally things had hit  
their miserable pinnacle the day before when he had gone into labor,  
at only seven months pregnant.  
  
So now here he was, watching his gravely ill daughter fight for her  
life.  
  
"Remus? How is she, is she okay?"  
  
Remus turned around and saw Harry standing in the doorway, looking  
unsure of himself. The older man gave a half-hearted smile and  
motioned Harry to come into the room. When the boy got close enough  
to him, Remus pulled him into a hug and held him on his lap as he  
would a small child.  
  
"She's not doing much better, Harry. Her temperature has been up and  
down all day and they can't take her off the ventilator yet, she's  
not breathing on her own." Remus answered with a sad sigh. "It's just  
not looking good for her."  
  
"But she will be alright though, right? She's a fighter. She's  
Sirius' daughter, he didn't give up, and she won't either." Harry  
protested fervently, but even as the words left his mouth, he  
wondered how much truth was behind him. The baby lying in front of  
him was so small and sickly looking; she didn't give the impression  
of being much of a fighter.  
  
"I hope so. I can't lose her Harry, she's all I have left of Siri, my  
last link to him," Remus whispered sorrowfully. "This is my fault,  
isn't it? I tried to carry her to term, but I just couldn't. The only  
thing I can think of is that it's because of what I am. I guess it  
just wasn't healthy for her. Now, if anything happens to her . . . I  
will be responsible for losing Sirius' baby, his and mine."  
  
"It's not your fault, and you know it," Harry tried to reassure  
him. "Some babies are just born premature. There was nothing you or  
anyone else could have done to prevent it. It could have happened to  
anybody."  
  
Remus gave the boy a slight squeeze of thanks, letting Harry know he  
appreciated his words.  
  
"What are you doing here anyway, Harry? Shouldn't you be at school?"  
  
"Nope. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, Dumbledore allowed me to come here  
instead."  
  
"How did you get in here? This wing is supposed to be restricted to  
immediate family only."  
  
"Invisibility cloak," Harry explained distractedly as he reached out  
and ran a finger down the baby's arm. "They never even noticed me  
come in. She really looks like him, doesn't she? Got the jet black  
hair from him."  
  
"Yeah, I imagine she'll be a spitting image of him, if she gets the  
chance to grow up."  
  
"She will, Remus, I'm sure she will. It might take sometime, but she  
WILL get better." Harry insisted. He wanted the baby to survive  
almost as much as Remus did. Both of them had suffered greatly after  
the loss of Sirius, and the baby in front of them meant the world to  
both of them, creating a last link to a man they both loved. "I  
mean . . . she can't NOT get better."  
  
"I wish it were that simple, Harry. She's a sick little girl, there's  
no telling what's going to happen to her. Right now we just have to  
pray for the best, that's all we can do."  
  
Harry nodded and gave a barely audible sigh as he stroked the baby's  
skin.  
  
"Have you decided what you're going to name her?"  
  
"Isabella. . . . Isabella Dian."  
  
"Isabella? I like it . . .it really fits her."  
  
The two of them finally settled into a comfortable silence as they  
sat and watched the baby. The sight of the tiny chest rising and  
falling was a relief to both of them, even though they knew it being  
caused by a machine. After nearly two hours of watching the newborn  
sleep, and occasionally running a finger along her body while talking  
to her, Harry's eyes began to droop sleepily and soon he was leaning  
against Remus, sound asleep. Remus allowed him to nap for awhile,  
knowing that deep sleep wasn't something that came often to the boy,  
before lightly shaking him awake.  
  
"Harry . . . Harry wake up."  
  
"Hmmm? What is it, what's wrong? Is she okay?"  
  
"She's fine, Harry, but you need to get back to school and get some  
sleep."  
  
"Sleep?"  
  
"Yes, you just fell asleep sitting here on my lap. Go back to school  
and go to sleep, you're not doing anybody any good sitting here and  
falling asleep. And you'll be doing even less good if you make  
yourself sick by staying here too long and stressing yourself out. Go  
back to Hogwarts, get some rest, you can come back tomorrow, okay?"  
  
"But, what if . . . ."  
  
"If anything happens during the night, I'll make sure you know right  
away, alright? I have enough to worry about right now, with out  
worrying about you."  
  
"O-okay." Harry stood and stretched out before leaning down to give  
the older man a hug. "I'll see the two of you tomorrow."  
  
As he left the room, Harry turned around one last time too look at  
the sleeping baby, and wished with everything in his heart that she  
would make it to see another day.  



	2. 2 of 2

TITLE: The Last Link

STATUS/PART: 2/2

RATING: PG

PAIRING: SB/RL

SPOILERS: Just OotP

SUMMARY: Someone was pregnant on that fateful night in the Department of Mysteries, now he has to hope that his last link to the man he lost can survive.

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Harry walked into the N.I.C.U. of the hospital with a heavy heart. Professor Dumbledore had been allowing him to come here for a few hours every night for the past two weeks, ever since Isabella had been born. All the time at the hospital was beginning to take a toll on the young man, but he didn't dare miss a day. Right now the baby needed to be surrounded by as much love as possible and, unfortunately, he was the only one other than her father that was going to see her.

At first he didn't notice anything wrong or out of the ordinary. The room was full of sick babies and their parents, and luckily enough everyone was distracted enough not to notice him there, considering that he didn't belong on the unit. But then when he turned towards the bed he normally spent his evenings at . . .he realized that it was empty. Isabella no longer laid where she had for the past two weeks.

His heart sped up as he looked frantically around the room for her. Surely she was still there, they had just moved her to a new bed. There was no other possible explanation for why she would be gone, except . . . NO! He refused to think that. If anything had happened to her since the night before, Remus would have found a way to get a hold of him. Dumbledore would have been informed and Harry summoned to come to the hospital to be with them.

However, even as he scanned the room it was obvious that she was nowhere to be found. Harry's heart nearly stopped beating and his mouth went completely dry as he tried to figure out what could have happened to the baby.

Finally he gave up searching and approached the nurse's desk tentatively. He really wasn't supposed to be here and he didn't want to draw attention to himself, but he HAD to. If something had happened to Isabella he needed to know. 

The women bustling around behind the desk all seemed to be busy and Harry didn't want to interrupt them, so he just stood there bouncing from foot to foot until one of them looked up at him in annoyance. 

"You shouldn't be here, young man, you have to be eighteen to be in this unit." One particularly foul looking woman snapped at him. "Did you need something?"

"Y-yes, I was looking for Isabella Black. She used to be here on this unit."

"Are you immediate family?"

"N-no, not really. But . . .I've been coming to see her."

"Well, you shouldn't have been." The lady scoffed. "And I can't tell you anything. I can't give out information on a patient to anyone but immediate family."

"But . . .I need to know where she is! Is she okay? Did anything happen to her?"

"I'm sorry, but I simply can not give out that kind of information. Your best bet would be to go to the mother's room and talk to the parents. They can tell you anything they want."

Harry sighed in frustration and turned away muttering under his breath that there was no mother, and if this woman were a better nurse she'd know things like that about her patients.

For a minute he wondered if Remus would even still have a room in the hospital. He didn't think it was normal for someone to stay in the hospital for more than a few days after giving birth. But then he remembered that while they were talking one night, his former professor had mentioned that he had gotten a room in the hospital's family ward, a place he could stay while Isabella was still here.

Harry wandered towards the unit where the older man was staying, and curse himself for not paying better attention to the room number. When he finally reached the unit where family members of patients stayed he stared blankly at all of the doors, praying that the correct room number would come to him and prevent him from standing here like an idiot all night. Luckily, just when he was about to give up and start knocking on doors randomly, the man he was looking for came out of a room a little bit down the hall.

"Professor Lupin?"

"Harry?" The man looked up at him, a look of surprise coming across his face. "What are you doing down here?"

"I'm looking for you! I went upstairs and Isabella's gone. They wouldn't tell me anything, so I came to find you."

"You went upstairs looking for her? Oh . . .I asked Dumbledore to tell you. I guess my owl didn't reach him before you left."

"Owl? Dumbledore? Tell me what?"

"Come on, Harry. I'll explain on the way." The older man said as he placed an arm gently over Harry's shoulder and guided him down the hallway.

"On the way WHERE? Explain WHAT?" Harry asked in frustration. He had come down here seeking answers and all he was getting were more questions.

"They took Isabella off the respirator this morning," Lupin told him as they stepped onto an elevator. "She-"

"She's okay isn't she? Why didn't you get me earlier? Oh God . . .she's not . . .she didn't . . ."

"No. Nothing like that, Harry. Quite the opposite, in fact. She started breathing on her own."

"Sh-she did?" Harry asked in disbelief. When he had left the night before, the baby had still looked incredibly sick. In fact, she had looked like she was getting sicker, in Harry's opinion. 

"Yes, it was like a miracle, Harry," The other man beamed as he guided Harry off the elevator and down another hallway. "At first she kind of faltered, they weren't sure if she was going to be okay. If she hadn't started breathing, we weren't going to put her back on the respirator, we were going to just let her go. A minute or so passed, and I was about to give up on her. But then, she took a breath . . .and then another . . .and another. She's been breathing on her own for almost twelve hours now, and has only had a couple of problems."

"Problems?"

"Well, for the first few hours she would forget to breath sometimes. But, the nurses would just rub her back a little and remind her, then she'd be okay. She hasn't had and episode like that in about seven hours though."

"So . . .where is she?" Harry asked, still confused as to what had happened to the baby.

"She's right there, Harry."

For the first time, Harry realized that they had stopped in front of a large window. As he looked through the glass he saw into a room filled with babies. His eyes scanned the rows of tiny cribs before finally coming to rest . . .there, in a corner, was the tiny black haired baby he had come to see. His heart stopped and his breath caught in his throat as he finally got his first good look at her. This was the first time since she'd been born that Harry had seen her that she didn't have IV's in her little limbs, and tubes to help her breath going down her tiny throat.

Harry looked over at Remus and saw the other man staring at the baby, a huge smile breaking across his face. He never broke his gaze as he began to speak again.

"She looks good, doesn't she? The doctor said if she continues to progress, she'll be able to come home in a few days, a week at the most."

"Th-that's great!"

"Would you like to see her up close, Harry?"

"Can I?"

"Of course you can. You can even hold her if you like." The older man tapped lightly on the glass to catch the attention of a nurse who was attending to the infants, and gestured off to the side. After she had nodded that she'd seen him, Remus took a hold of Harry's arm and gently pulled him toward a door next to the window. "This way, Harry."

They walked through the door and Harry found himself being handed a paper gown, and was explained to that he had to wear it for sterilization reasons if he wanted to hold Isabella. He nodded his understanding and quickly shrugged into the gown. It was barely in place on his body when another door was opened and Isabella's crib was being wheeled into the room.

Harry stood, transfixed, just staring at the sleeping baby, his godfather's baby. Now, seeing her up close and without tubes surrounding her, she looked even more beautiful. In Harry's opinion, she was truly an angel of a baby.

"Go ahead, pick her up." Remus encouraged.

Harry hesitated for a minute before gingerly picking up the baby, scared to death that he might hurt her. Finally, he got her settled into his arms and cuddled the sleeping child against his chest, feeling as if it were the most normal thing in the world. He smiled and cooed softly at her.

"Hi, Bella. I'm Harry. Your other daddy was my godfather, so I guess that kind of makes me like your big brother. Maybe not technically, but as far as I'm concerned, you're my baby sister, and I'm going to help take care of you. Anything you ever need, you can come to me. I'll make sure you have all you want in life, and that nobody ever hurts you."

Isabella just sighed and adjusted herself in Harry's arms so she was snuggled closer against him. Harry ran a finger down her soft, downy cheek and looked up at her father. The two men smiled at each other contentedly, both relieved that the baby in Harry's arms was going to be okay. Sirius might be gone from them, but there was still this baby, one last link to a man they had both cared about deeply.


End file.
